Notre Dame Football: Florida State Seminoles Q&A with Tomahawk Nation

Notre Dame football is back at it again tomorrow evening, hosting a team that was very good last season and has been very bad this season. Can FSU play spoiler, though???

Hello friends, and welcome back to another week of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football! Our beloved 7-1 Irish landed at the #10 spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff rankings this week, and so although they’re positioned pretty well to win-out and make it in, they may need to snag some style points down the stretch to secure a home game in the first round (assuming first that they win out, which is definitely not a foregone conclusion for this team/program).

So, grabbing some style points certainly will need to begin tomorrow, as the Irish play host to the Florida State Seminoles. This originally looked like one of the best matchups of the season for ND, and thus it was slated as a night game. Instead, FSU is 1-8 on the year and looking like an absolute desiccated husk of the team that started 2023 13-0 before being held out of the Playoff, having their best players all sit out the bowl game, and then being destroyed in epic fashion by Georgia.

With that said, is there any chance an FSU team with plenty of talent on paper could suddenly find themselves motivated to play better with a chance to upset the Irish and ruin their playoff chances? Or will the Irish be able to put an absolute hurtin’ on the Noles and keep this thing rolling toward the playoff? Also, what the hell has gone wrong with FSU this year to even get them to this point?

To answer all those questions, we reached out to our longtime friends at Tomahawk Nation, SB Nation’s one-stop-shop for all things Florida State. Managing Editor Perry Kostidakis was generous enough to field a whole slew of questions about the rough shape his favorite squad is in, which Seminoles could give the Irish trouble this weekend, potential ACC exit strategies, power-ranking Famous Jameis moments, and more. So, let’s not waste any more time, because he gave us some great stuff — let’s learn about what to expect from this FSU opponent this weekend!

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1. After a 23-3 stretch from the beginning of the 2022 season through the end of the 2023 regular season, it had looked like Mike Norvell had turned Florida State back into a regular playoff contender.

What has gone wrong this year to drive this 1-8 start to the season? Do FSU fans still believe in Norvell despite the sudden downturn in performance?

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: If you had asked me this in September, my answers would have mentioned something about poor portal evaluation and “yes, despite the frustrating start.”

Now, after we’ve learned that FSU is historically awful rather than just normal bad, the “what’s gone wrong” is literally everything and the percentage of Florida State fans who still have faith in Norvell is probably at the lowest it’s ever been. While I still have a teeny bit of faith in his ability to turn things around, there’s no doubt in my mind if he hadn’t gotten a major extension after being floated for the Alabama job he’d be out the door given just how plain bad FSU has been this season combined with owning now three losing seasons, the worst record in ACC play in school history, the worst bowl loss in school history, the only loss to Duke, only loss to an FCS team — and I could go on.

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While I was pretty dismissive of the impact the snub would have on the psyche of this year’s team, I’ve been proven pretty wrong given the complete meltdown we’ve seen in the program. Being told that winning didn’t matter, and then the implicit condoning of the Orange Bowl opt outs by the coaching staff (which, to be fair, was pretty understood at the time) definitely resulted in the weakening of Norvell’s message.

Even when the team was losing pretty frequently in Norvell’s early years, there were indications that something was taking root. In 2024, they’ve turned everybody into a Facebook commenter because while usually complaints of “they don’t even care!!” are hyperbole, there has been a complete lack of enthusiasm or passion from Florida State that has resulted in a defense that gives up nearly 46.3% of third down conversions (122nd of 133) and an offense that averages just 14.4 points per game (132nd). The soft factors of mentality plus the real, on-field factors of failure to address needs through both portal and high school recruiting have resulted in the small concerns seen throughout Norvell’s tenure blossoming into fatal ones. There’s a real shot that FSU doesn’t win again this season, which includes a game against Charleston Southern after a bye week.

2. Is Brock Glenn the likely starter for the Seminoles for the remainder of the season, or should Irish fans expect to see anyone else under center on Saturday? Whoever the expected starter is, what positive skills does he bring to the table, and what limitations or weaknesses do you think the Irish defense can exploit?

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: For the last two games, we’ve seen true freshman Luke Kromenhoek get some burn in hopes of giving an anemic offense some sort of spark — which kind of worked when he accidentally took a botched quarterback sneak for 50 yards vs. Miami, but hasn’t really too much since. He’s currently played in three games, so the factor of if he wants to maintain his redshirt could come into play if he’d rather cash in that fourth game vs. Charleston Southern or Florida.

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The positives for both quarterbacks are the same — an ability to run. Outside of that, there aren’t too many ways that FSU will be able to attack given its inability to establish the rushing game, a turnstile offensive line and a receiving corps that has just eight touchdowns this season.

3. Who are the names to know when it comes to offensive skill position players for FSU? Do you foresee any of them giving ND major trouble?

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: If anybody is likely to score a touchdown, it’s going to be athlete Ja’Khi Douglas or running back Lawrance Toafili.

The duo are FSU’s receiving and rushing leaders (404 and 303 yards, respectively), and responsible for four of the 11 touchdowns that the Seminoles have mustered this season.

4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this Florida State defense, and are there any absolute studs Irish fans should be nervous about in terms of making life difficult for Riley Leonard and the Notre Dame offense?

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: The strengths are a defensive front that can wreak havoc when it occasionally remembers how to play football and defensive back Azareye’h Thomas (sometimes).

Weaknesses included but are not limited to: susceptible in the pass game, weak physicality in the front seven and fielding one of the worst third down defenses in the country.

Unfortunately, Riley Leonard is going to get his revenge from last year.

5. FAN QUESTION:

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: I will answer this with a question of my own — how litigious are you? Because I really might steal that for a headline.

6. FAN QUESTION:

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: First off — flattery will get you everywhere, thank you.

All I know is that Florida State’s lawyers are probably the only people associated with FSU football that have felt any sort of joy over the past year and the amount of money they’re going to end up making probably would’ve been able to fund the exit on its own.

7. FAN QUESTION:

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: This was something that FSU fans brought up early on — after all, FSU did enjoy its independent status before joining the ACC — but the unfortunate reality is the same factor driving the departure is why going independent is a no-go.

While the FSU brand is definitely one of the country’s most valuable, Notre Dame is unique in its ability to garner a singular television contract with a network and make up the difference of what conference payouts bring.

8. FAN QUESTION:

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: This is my chance to be annoying and brag, so I’m going to put crab legs first only because one of the iconic memes from that day was the product of my friend and I’s idiot brains.

From there:

• Ketchup soda heist (why such a tiny container?)
• BB Gun Tag (could you imagine seeing it happen?)
• Student Union Shouting (so low because I still have FOMO over missing seeing it happen)
• Dressing up, coming out for game (actually was pretty annoying because I swore they were going to lose that game)

9. Alright, let’s get down to it — who wins, what’s the final score, and how does it happen?

Perry Kostidakis, Tomahawk Nation: You might read some of my answers and think, “he’s just beaten down after a long year. Every team has its ups and downs — this might be the week FSU gets it together!” You are wrong, because there has been no sign through nine games that FSU has any shot at fielding anything resembling a competent football team.

Just like the last few times the Seminoles have hit the road to Indiana, Notre Dame is going to win, comfortably, and it’s going to happen in blowout fashion. It’s to the point where even the “all the [opposing team] has to do is not beat itself” cliche isn’t applicable. FSU blocked two field goals vs. Clemson, SMU snapped a ball over the punter’s head for a safety, Cam Ward had his “worst” game against the Seminoles — none of it mattered, because in every aspect, Florida State has failed this season. The only true weapons are punter Alex Mastromanno and kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, each of which might legitmately be the best in the nation, but there’s a reason that FSU’s current total points over/under is 7.5.

I’m thinking like 41-10, with seven of those Florida State points coming well into garbage time.

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Alrighty, I wanna give a massive thank you and shout-out to Perry for giving us some excellent insights and info on FSU while also being a great sport about the…goofier…questions we had for him. I encourage you all to head over to Tomahawk Nation to check out more of their coverage of this matchup — we’ve partnered with them numerous times over the years and they’ve always done some great work and been a fun bunch to interact with.

I also highly recommend you give both Tomahawk Nation and Perry some follows on Twitter — they are hilarious, knowledgeable, and are excellent resources to have in your Twitter feed before, during, and after this game to hear all their reactions, analysis, and humor as we all tweet through this game on Saturday evening.

That’s all I’ve got for this week, y’all — per usual, GO IRISH, BEAT SEMINOLES!!!